Diana Rigg Parents: Meet Louis Rigg & Beryl Helliwell

Diana Rigg was born in Doncaster, then in the West Riding of Yorkshire to Louis and Beryl Hilda Rigg. Her father was born in Yorkshire, worked in engineering, and moved to India to work for the railway to take advantage of the career opportunities there.

Rigg’s mother moved back to England for Rigg’s birth. Between the ages of two months and eight years, she lived in Bikaner, Rajasthan, India where her father worked his way up to become a railway executive in the Bikaner State Railway.

Rigg was a patron of International Care & Relief and was many years the public face of Charity’s child-sponsored scheme.

She was also chancellor of the University of Stirling, a ceremonial rather than an executive role, and she was succeeded by James Naughtie when her 10-year term of office ended on July 31, 2008.